Vertical-axis mower and roller conditioner

ABSTRACT

Cutting apparatus ( 10 ) comprising a body assembly ( 11 ) including a lower wear disc ( 12 ) and an upper lifting and cutting assembly ( 13 ), mounted for driven rotation on a mower via driving hub ( 14 ). The lifting and cutting assembly ( 13 ) includes four blade assemblies ( 15 ) each comprising a pivoting angled blade ( 16 ) pivotally supported on lug ( 17 ) by bolt ( 20 ), located at the outer end of lifting means ( 21 ) comprising a curve walled portion ( 22 ) extending from a hub ( 23 ) and having an upper edge ( 24 ) which curves in a trailing direction out to the blade assembly ( 15  at  25 ). The cutting apparatus ( 10 ) forms a mower in assembly with a frame assembly ( 35 ) having mounted thereto a plane roller ( 36 ), a ribbed roller ( 37 ), describing therebetween a nip ( 40 ). The rollers are driven by train ( 41 ) adapted to be engaged by the PTO of a vehicle. Ribbed roller ( 37 ) has a plurality of substantially evenly spaced ribs each extending between the ends of the roller and curving back about the cylindrical roller surface to a mid point disposed in trailing relation relative to the rib ends. Each rib declines at an angle of 25 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the roller.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to rotary cutter apparatus.

This invention has particular but not exclusive application to rotarycutter apparatus suitable for use in tractor drawn hay-making mowerapparatus, and for illustrative purposes reference will be made to suchapplication. However, it is to be understood that this invention couldbe used in other applications, such as maintenance mower apparatus.

Mowers are used for the cutting of grass and crops for fodder such ashay and silage. In general, the standing green crop is cut about 25 mmto about 150 mm above ground level by tractor drawn mowing apparatus.Once cut, the crop is generally conditioned. This is achieved in onemethod by being fed between rotating rollers of about 200 mm to about300 mm in diameter for conditioning by bruising.

Alternatively the cut feed is conditioned between spoke conditioningflails, forage blower or cutter and blower. The cut and conditionedmaterial is generally deposited on the ground in windrows.

The present mowers may include from four to six cutting apparatuscomprising rotating discs with two to three cutting knives per disc, of400 mm to 500 mm diameter, and mounted on a floating bar that rests onthe ground when working. Alternatively, there is provided apparatuscomprising pairs of counter-rotating discs of about 600 mm to about 1200mm diameter bearing about 3 to about 5 cutting blades per disc.

The present type mowers require the use of high speed rotating cuttingdiscs to cut and lift the crop and to feed the cut crop throughconditioning means. Whilst the speeds currently in use are in excess ofthe speed required for cutting, lower speeds do not provide sufficientlift to feed the cut material to the conditioning apparatus. In anattempt to improve the lifting capacity for a given speed it has beenproposed to provide the cutting discs with lifting means such as radialbars in the form of pressed ribs or welded bar or angle iron,oval-shaped discs or the like. To date, none have been effective inproviding sufficient lift at relatively low disc speeds.

Notwithstanding the use of high speed discs with the aforedescribed liftimproving means, present apparatus cannot achieve a consistent flow ofgrass and other crop types from the cutting discs to the conditioningmeans. The high speed cutting knives have tip speeds of 250 to 300 kphand this combined with the shape of the discs requires an excessiveamount of power to maintain cutting and lifting of the crop to theconditioning means. Existing apparatus also has difficulty in mowing theheadlands of standing crops without mincing the crop, which downgradesthe hay quality and reduces the quantity recoverable.

The high speed of the existing cutting discs has the furtherdisadvantage of picking up foreign objects such as rocks, stones,timber, sticks and metal objects, which are propelled at considerablespeed either into the conditioning means or out of the apparatusaltogether, such high speed projectiles being dangerous to operators andothers.

The present invention aims to substantially alleviate at least one ofthe above disadvantages and to provide mower apparatus which will bereliable and efficient in use. Other objects and advantages of thisinvention will hereinafter become apparent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention in oneaspect resides broadly in vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatusincluding:

a chassis adapted to be moved over a crop to be mown;

a plurality of rotary cutter assemblies disposed across said chassis andeach comprising a substantially circular body member supported fordriven vertical-axis rotation on said chassis and a cutting memberdisposed peripherally of said body member; and

conditioning apparatus adapted to accept crop cut by said cutterassemblies, characterised in that said rotary cutter assemblies arearranged in counterrotating pairs with overlapping cutting arcs, the nipof said counterrotating pairs being toward the direction of travel, saidbody member having an upper portion adapted to receive cut crop byvirtue of the motion of the chassis in the direction of travel throughthe crop, said upper portion having crop lifting means comprising aleading wall portion extending outwardly on said body member from asubstantially radially directed inner end towards said periphery andcurved in a trailing direction to a substantially circumferentiallydirected outer end, having an upper edge spaced from a plane of travelof said cutting member, and a trailing land portion extending from saidupper edge towards said plane.

The cutting assembly preferably forms part of a mower apparatuscomprising a plurality of cutter assemblies. The cutter assemblies arepreferably disposed in counter-rotating adjacent positions in the mowerapparatus. The cutting members of the adjacent cutter assemblies arepreferably disposed such that the swept areas of the cutter means areoverlapping.

The body member is preferably supported for rotation about asubstantially vertical axis such that the cutter means sweeps in asubstantially horizontal plane. The body member may be rotated by anysuitable means such as a power take off from a tractor or the like, orthe apparatus may be self propelled.

The cutting member may comprise one or more rigidly mounted orcentrifugally deployed blade means disposed about the periphery of thebody member. The blade or blades may be substantially planar or may becontoured to assist in delivering the cut crop from the mower apparatusor to conditioning means. Preferably, the blades are inclined such thatthe leading edge is lower than the trailing edge to contribute tolifting of the cut crop.

The lifting means are preferably disposed in multiples about asubstantially circular body member. The lifting means may take anysuitable form. For example, the lifting means may include one of moreleading wall portions helically disposed such that their solid ofrotation is a broad, short cone.

Alternatively, the lifting means may comprise one or more leading wallportions extending substantially radially at their inner end but curvingout towards the periphery in a trailing direction, such that the outerend is behind the point on the circumference described by the initialradial direction. Preferably, the curve of the wall portions and thenumber of lifting means is selected such that the angular displacementof the outer end of the wall portion is substantially equal to 360°divided by the number of lifting means. However, it is also envisagedthat the lifting means may be spaced or overlapping by a significantdeparture from this even division.

Preferably, the apparatus is provided with four lifting meansdistributed evenly about the body member.

The upper edge of the wall portions are preferably spaced from a planeof travel of the cutting member in either a parallel or inclined manner.It is preferred that the upper edge extend substantially from the axialregion of the body member to the periphery. However, it is envisagedthat the upper edge may fall considerable short of either or both ofthese extremes.

The trailing land portion preferably extends as a smooth surface fromthe upper edge towards the plane of the cutting means to terminate atthe foot of an adjacent wall portion. However, it is envisaged that thesurface may be other that smooth and may for example terminate in asubstantially planar region extending to the next wall portion. Further,in the case of the helically disposed walls of the embodiment describinga cone as a solid of rotation, the lands may, after being inclinedtowards the plane of the cutting means, meet a surface which inclinesaway from the plane, which surface meets the foot of the wall portionhigher on the conical form.

The cutter apparatus may be of any suitable material. Preferably, thebody portion is formed of mild steel for ease of fabrication, cheapnessand strength. The lifting means may be pressed formed or fabricatedintegrally with the body member, or may be assembled thereto. Theassembled lifting means may comprise for example steel, hard rubber orplastics material such as TEFLON or NYLON that may be bolted to the bodymember.

For hay mowing apparatus it is desirable to combine the mowing apparatuswith conditioning apparatus such that a common drive is used to providea continuous mowing and conditioning process. Conditioning apparatusincludes the aforementioned conditioning flails and rollers.Conditioning rollers are generally preferred for robustness, limitedmaintenance requirements, resistance to fouling and consistent bruisingof the cut crop without mashing.

In a further aspect, this invention resides in crop conditioningapparatus of the type including:

a supporting body;

conditioning rollers mounted on said body presenting a nip to receivecut feed, and

drive means for said rollers, wherein said rollers comprise at least oneroller with a plurality of substantially evenly spaced ribs eachextending between the ends of the roller and curving about thecylindrical roller surface to a mid point disposed in trailing relationrelative to the rib ends.

The supporting body is preferably adapted to be mounted to a mower orthe like to be drawn together therewith. The body may be whollysupported by the mower or may be hitched thereto and supported on itsown wheels.

The supporting body may be provided with mounting means to support oneor more pairs of conditioning rollers. For example, the apparatus maysupport a pair of conditioning rollers being mounted on horizontal axes.Preferably, the horizontally mounted rollers are mounted with their axescontained in an inclined plane such that the receiving side of the nipmay accept the upwardly lifted cut crop from the mower into the nip ofthe rollers and deliver the conditioned crop in a direction having anupward component.

The rollers may be of any suitable material and are advantageously of asomewhat resilient material such as hard rubber or the like.Alternatively one or the other of the rollers may be of durable materialsuch as steel. The rollers are preferably driven via the power take offof the tractor or the like drawing the mower. However, if desired theconditioning apparatus may be self propelled or the rollers driven bythe supporting wheels.

The ribs of the at least one ribbed roller may take any suitable formconsistent with the function of co-acting with its adjacent roller tocondition the crop. Preferably, the ribbed roller or rollers comprise atube or rolled section of steel or other material provided withsupporting axle and bearing means. On the outer cylindrical surfacethere is provided evenly spaced ribs, typically comprising square steelbars of about 20 mm×20 mm section at a rib spacing of about 50 mm aroundthe roller. The declination of the ribs about the from the centre to theends of the roller in the direction of rotation is typically maintainedat an angle of about 25 degrees to a line on the roller parallel to theroller axis at the point of measurement and follows the curve of theroller to each end. In the middle of the roller the ribs may besubstantially parallel with the axis of the roller for about 300 mm fora typical roller of about 1 meter length.

The other roller is preferably plain and may be of any suitablematerial. Preferably the roller is a steel carcass having an outer coverof resilient material such as fibre reinforced rubber, typically of athickness between 20 mm to 60 mm. Alternatively, the other roller mayalso be ribbed as per the first mentioned roller, provided that the ribsof the respective rollers do not mesh. In such apparatus, the roller maycomprise a moulded rubber compound outer layer of typically 20 to 60 mmthickness with ribs moulded into its surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put intopractical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention andwherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of cutter apparatus in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is an alternative embodiment of cutting apparatus in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of conditioning apparatus suitable for usein conjunction with apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of apparatus in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is an elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6 to 12 illustrate the detail of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 5;

FIG. 13 illustrates a four disc model, and

FIG. 14 illustrates a six disc model.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1 there is provided cutting apparatus 10 comprising a bodyassembly 11 including a lower wear disc 12 and an upper lifting andcutting assembly 13.

The lower plate 12 and the lifting and cutting assembly 13 are mountedfor driven rotation on a mower via driving hub 14.

The lifting and cutting assembly 13 includes four blade assemblies 15each comprising a pivoting angled blade 16 pivotally supported on lug 17by bolt 20.

The blade assembly 15 is located at the outer end of lifting means 21comprising a curve walled portion 22 extending from a hub 23 and havingan upper edge 24 which curves in a trailing direction out to the bladeassembly 15 at 25.

The upper trailing surface 26 of the lifting means 21 extends downwardlyand outwardly to the outer periphery of the lifting and cuttingapparatus 13 and further extends downwardly and in a trailing directionto meet the foot of the wall portion 22 of the adjacent lifting meansnext following.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, there is provided a cutterassembly 30 of broad conical form having disposed about its periphery,four cutting blades 31, mounted as per the previous embodiment.Integrally formed into the conical surface are helical wall portions 32of generally spiral form up the conical surface and separated by helicallands 33, in this embodiment in the form of V-shaped channels separatingthe wall portions 32.

The conditioning apparatus of FIG. 3 includes a frame assembly 35 havingmounted thereto a plane roller 36, a ribbed roller 37, describingtherebetween a nip 40. The rollers are driven by drive train 41 adaptedto be engaged by the PTO of a vehicle. Wheels 42 support the apparatusin hitched engagement with a tractor drawn mower.

The ribbed roller 37 is provided with a plurality of curved ribs 43spaced by grooves 44. The ribs 43 have a mid-point 45 which is trailingrelative to the rib ends 46.

In the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 there is provided a mowerassembly 50 including a chassis 51 supported by wheels 52. Mounted tothe chassis 51 by parallel arms 53 is a cutter assembly. The movementbetween the chassis 51 and the cutter assembly 54 for raising andlowering of the latter is effected by a spring-loaded lift assembly 55operated by lifter lever 56 mounted to the chassis 51.

The cutter assembly 54 includes a gearbox 57 adapted to be driven by thevehicle PTO and driving shaft 60 through bearing assembly 61 to causerotation of a cutting disk 62. The cutting disk 62 is mounted above askid plate 63 supported on a stationary housing 64 through which thedrive shaft 60 extends.

The cutting disk 62 is provided with lifting means 65 and supports at itperiphery cutting blades 66.

The operator of the apparatus is protected by the provision of an impactresisting cover member 67 and a flexible cover member 68 disposed on theapparatus towards the tractor drawing the apparatus.

Behind the cutting assembly 54 is locating conditioning means comprisingan upper 70 and lower 71 conditioning rollers meeting at a nip 72, theupper roller 70 comprising steel ribs as hereinbefore described with thelower roller 71 having an outer sleeve 73 of rubber composition. Theupper roller 70 is driven by chain drive 74 driven off the vehicle PTO.The discharge side 75 of the conditioning roller 70, 71 directsconditioned and cut crop outwardly and upwardly to the rear of theapparatus whereupon it is deflected to the ground by adjustable rearcutter means 76 supported on strut 77.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 power feed discs 101 rotateclockwise and anti-clockwise respectively, each having four (4) ribs 10250 mm high extending from a connecting point 103 at the inner portion ofthe disc to an outer point 104 of the disc near the periphery. The dischas an inner centre top plate 105 welded to the disc and having 6 boltholes. The ribs are each fabricated to a lifting plate 106 to liftgrass. Each disc bears four cutting knives 107 each being twisted topresent 15 degrees down on its leading edge, and secured to the discedge by a bolt 108.

The back side of ribs 109 give strength with light weight and a workingedge, sloping back at 10 degrees to main disc and allowing grassmaterial to slide onto the leading edge of the following disc. A flatbase 110 of the outer edge of the disc and flat base 111 of a skid plateunder the rotating discs cooperate to skim over the cut grass close tothe cut, the outer edge 112 being bent up at 20 degrees.

The inner centre 113 of the base plate connects to the bearing hub by6×12 mm×35 mm bolts. The base plate bearing outer hub 114 has a sealretainer 115 on the main drive shaft, and a plate 116 connects to thediscs. Strengthening backing 117 is provided for the plate on the mainshaft, which is supported on a bottom bearing 118. A centre spacer 119is provided to keep the bearings apart. A circlip 120 prevents the mainshaft moving on the bearings.

A top bearing 121 is provided on the main shaft. A connecting top collar122 is splined to the 6-spline main shaft and to the gear box 126six-spline output shaft 124. An outer stationary tube 123 mounted to themower chassis extends down to the disc to protect the rotating shaftfrom being wrapped. The gearbox 126 has an input shaft 125 mounted at90° to the output shaft 124. The gearboxes 126 are supported byrespective pairs of chassis plate brackets 127 via bolt holes 128 andbolts 129.

The chassis box frame 130 has a cover 131 over a power take off shaftbetween the gear boxes 126. The chassis box frame has a connectingbracket 132 enabling connection to the towing chassis via a side controlarm. A protecting cover 133 over discs near towing chassis providesprotection, as does protecting cover 134 from the mower chassis to outerfolding cover 135, which can fold up for travelling when not working. Arubber protective apron 136 also protects against projectiles.

A bottom roller 137 is mounted to the chassis and includes ribs 138 ribsof 20 mm×20 mm solid steel. The bottom roller 137 is mounted on a centreshaft 139 of 38 mm diameter, and a drive end centre shaft 139B. Outercollars 140 retain the respective shafts in position.

The ribs 138 are spaced by and define channels 141 between the ribs of40 mm dimension. At 142 the ribs are parallel to the roller for 300 mm.At 143 the ribs curved around roller at 20 degrees to the axis.

The top roller 144 has a poly rubber covering 145 with eight ½ moonindent scallops 146, and is mounted for rotation on a non driven 148 anddriven 147 centre shafts of 38 mm diameter. A driving shaft 149 carriestwo chain sprockets and is located coaxially with the pivot point of toproller bearing plate. A shaft 150 carries the pivot point bearing plateto the top roller, a top roller guide 151 and bearing retainer plates151A locating each end of the rollers mounted on bearings 152. Rollersprockets 153 are engaged by drive chains 154 of 19 mm size via an idlersprocket and shaft 155.

A top chassis bar 156 of 75 mm×75 mm with welded plates each end boltsto the non drive end chassis 157 and the drive end chassis 158respectively.

Bottom roller bearings are retained by bearing retainers 159.

Side control arms 160 are provided between the towing chassis and themower chassis, and an adjustable top arm 161 locates between the wheelchassis and the cover over the PTO between the gear boxes via a bracketattachment point 162 with bolt through, and corresponding bracketattachment point 163 with bolt through to connect top arm to wheelchassis.

Attachment plates 164 support the conditioning roller chassis on theinside of both disc chassis tubes 123 and 130.

The towing bar chassis 165 is welded to the wheel chassis at back ofmower via welded plate 166 and step 167. A lifting load bar 168 islocated at a height central of the apparatus and is operable by a camlever 169 for a hydraulic ram. Further cam levers 170 on the lift loadbar 168 connect to springs to lift the mower chassis. The position ofthe PTO shaft between the gearboxes is shown at 171. The PTO shaft 172from right angle gear box on towing chassis to first mower gear alsobeing shown. A collar 173 connects the gear box through shafts to PTOshaft between the gear boxes.

A pair of pneumatic tyres on wheels 174 support the apparatus on stubaxles 175, via a frame 176 from wheel chassis to stub axles and lowerconnecting push arms and back tail gate. A bottom push arm 177A isdisposed each side of the tubes about the disc shafts via bottom armconnecting plate and bolt hole 177B. At 177C the bottom arm connects toframe 176. A lift spring connection plate 178 supports a lift spring201.

A back gate connecting arm 179 from the frame 176 supports a back door180 to control grass flow from conditioner rollers.

A tow bar extension 181 that is parallel with towing chassis has a towbar portion 182 that has 10 degree downward direction from 182A to towbar 182B, having a hitch 183 providing a tow point for connecting totractor tow bar with a tow pin. A swing pin 184 from tow bar to towingchassis allows the bar movement from work to travel position 185.

A spring assembly 186 maintains pressure on top conditioning roller.

A steel skid 187 under roller chassis to centre of skid disc preventsfouling under the disc and protects the disc from ground impact.

A chain sprocket 188 driven by the PTO in clock wise direction, powersthe roller conditioners, the top roller powered by a chain sprocket 189via top roller sprocket 192, and the bottom roller via chain sprocket190 on bottom roller. A chain sprocket 191 is provided to tighten chain,193 showing direction of rollers.

At 194 there is a top connecting bolt from roller chassis to mowerchassis, and at 195 there is a bottom connecting bolt from rollerchassis to mower chassis. The top roller may be supported on a restingblock 196.

The drive chains are protected by a guard 197 over chains and sprockets,and a front cover guard 198 protects to the front and is made of pressedsteel, and in turn supports a front apron 199 made of flexible rubberand canvas.

A hydraulic ram 200 of 200 mm stroke controls mower height, and a spring201 provides for mower lift and float over uneven ground. The front gearbox 202 has a through shaft and right angle drive to power mower gearboxes, the back gear box 202A has a through shaft and right angle driveto power conditioning rollers, the continuity of drive being provided bya splined connecting collar 203, a slip clutch 204 and universal joint204B on the PTO shaft allowing slip under excessive back loading. ThePTO shaft 204A is expandable and comprises and inner and outer tube, andhas a plastic cover 205.

At 209 there is illustrated the tow bar in working position 182, and at210 there is illustrated the tow bar in travelling position 182. At 211there is a top view of the wheel chassis 166, and at 212 a top view oflift bar 168. At 213 and 213A the relative position of the tyres isapparent. At 214 the position of the back tail gate 180 is shown, at 215the left side front cover, at 216 the right side front cover, at 217 thecentre front cover that can be lifted to look at discs, at 218 the pivotline for centre front cover, and at 219 the right hand end steel coverthat can be folded up in travelling non working use.

In the four and six disc examples of FIGS. 13 and 14 respectively, at220 is shown at tow bar that attaches to tractor is longer then two discmodel and still pivots from work position to travel. The locking pin 221for the tow bar and the pin 222 to pivot tow bar are illustrated, as isthe lifting bar right hand end 223 and lifting bar left hand end 223A.Tyres 224 of size 10.00 16 are provided. At 225 there is illustrated thecover between the disc units of flexible rubber and canvas, at 225A thefront cover between the disc units made of flexible rubber, and at 226the spacer bar between units. At 227 there is illustrated the pivotpoint of front cover that can lifted to inspect discs, and at 228 thefront rubber apron overlaps the fixed covers. At 229 there isillustrated the end cover which can fold up for travel, and at 230 theback tail gate (one of two). The back wheel chassis 231 is a one piece5500 mm long 250 mm wide 200 mm high.

In the six disc embodiment 240 of FIG. 14, this apparatus is adapted tobe pushed by a tractor. At 240 there is illustrated the tractor PTO atfront of tractor, with the PTO shaft 242 from tractor to mower, a rightangle gear box 243 with output shaft through the gear box, paralleltransfer box 244 to power conditioning rollers and to the disc units, 3transfer boxes. There is provided a flexible cover 245 between units, aback cover 245A of flexible rubber canvas, an end cover 247 from frontto back with outer edge hanging rubber apron to ground, an end cover 248from front to back with outer edge hanging rubber apron to ground, and afixed front cover 249 the same as other models. Rubber tyres 250 of size100..00..16 are provided as before, and the push bar chassis 251 is 6900mm.

The invention as described in the above embodiments provide for thecutting of grasses and pasture crops in the making of hay which has theadvantage of positive and continuous feed of crops between twocounter-rotating discs for conditioning between rollers, spokeconditioning flails, forage blower or cut-and-blower, and to windrowcrops without attachments and with minimum mincing of crops, on firstpass or at headlands. The twin disc system of the present embodimentsoperate at slower speed than the prior art round discs, with enoughspeed to keep the cutting knives out to cut cleanly whilst being able tofold back when hitting foreign objects.

There is greatly reduced risk of high speed projectiles. The liftingmeans of the present embodiments do not tend to cause projectiles to beaccelerated due to their trailing shape, making the apparatus safer tooperate. The lower speed of operation compared to prior art apparatusalso makes balancing of the rotating parts less critical.

The shape of the lifting means creates a continuous feed of cropsbetween the discs to the conditioning rollers or forage blower to allowindividual stalks, whether standing or parallel with the ground, to belifted without being minced and shredded into useless compost.

It will of course be realised that while the above has been given by wayof illustrative example of this invention, all such and othermodifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to personsskilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambitof this invention as defined in the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatusincluding: a chassis adapted to be moved over a crop to be mown; aplurality of rotary cutter assemblies disposed along said chassis andeach comprising a substantially circular body member including a lowerwear disc having a circular periphery, said body member supported fordriven vertical-axis rotation on said chassis and a plurality of cuttingmembers evenly disposed about the periphery of said body member; andconditioning apparatus adapted to accept crop cut by said cutterassemblies; said body member of each said cutter assembly includes anupper portion adapted to receive cut crop, said upper portion includinga plurality of crop lifting assemblies each being associated with acorresponding cutting member, and each comprising: a wall portionextending in a curved direction outwardly on said body member from asubstantially centrally directed inner end to a substantiallycircumferentially directed outer end terminating within said periphery,said outer end terminating at a position angularly displaced through anarc of rotation relative to the substantially centrally directed innerend of a next adjacent said wall portion; and a lifting surface having afirst portion proximate to a plane of the corresponding cutting memberand a second portion in a plane above said plane of said cutting member,said lifting surface being joined to said wall portion along a commonedge.
 2. Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said apparatus includes a drive coupling to receive apower take off of a vehicle adapted to tow said apparatus, said rotarycutter assemblies coupled to the drive coupling for operative rotation.3. Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said cutting member is contoured to assist in delivering the cutcrop from said body member to the conditioning apparatus. 4.Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatus according to claim 3,wherein said cutting member is inclined such that a leading edge islower than a trailing edge to contribute to lifting of the cut crop. 5.Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said plurality of lifting assemblies are disposed at equalangles about said substantially circular body member.
 6. Vertical-axismower and conditioner apparatus according to claim 5, wherein saidlifting assemblies number four.
 7. Vertical-axis mower and conditionerapparatus according to claim 1, wherein upper edges of said wallportions are inclined from their inner end towards a plane of travel ofthe cutting members.
 8. Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatus inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said lifting surface extends from anupper edge of said wall portion towards a plane of the cutting memberand terminates at a foot of an adjacent wall portion.
 9. Vertical-axismower and conditioner apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidconditioning apparatus comprises conditioning flails or conditioningrollers.
 10. Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said crop conditioning apparatus comprises a supportingbody, conditioning rollers mounted on said body having a nip to receivecut feed, and drive means for said rollers, wherein said rollerscomprise at least one roller with a plurality of substantially evenlyspaced ribs, each rib extending between the ends of the roller andcurving about a cylindrical roller surface to a mid-point disposed intrailing relation relative to the rib's ends.
 11. Vertical-axis mowerand conditioner apparatus according to claim 10, wherein saidconditioning rollers comprise a pair of conditioning rollers mounted forrotation about horizontal axes mutually contained in an inclined planesuch that operatively a receiving side of the nip accepts upwardlylifted cut crop from said rotary cutter assemblies into said nip anddischarges conditioned crop from the rollers in a direction having anupward component.
 12. Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatusaccording to claim 11, wherein said apparatus includes a drive couplingto receive a power take off of a vehicle adapted to tow said apparatus,said rollers coupled to the drive coupling for operative rotation. 13.Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatus according to claim 11,wherein a declination of the ribs about a center to the ends of theroller in the direction of rotation is maintained at an angle of about25 degrees to a line on the roller parallel to the roller's axis at thepoint of measurement and follows the curve of the roller to each end.14. Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatus according to claim 11,wherein one roller of said pair is ribbed and the other of said pair isplain, the plain roller having a steel carcass and an outer cover ofreinforced rubber.
 15. Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein said wall portion curves from said innerend to said outer end substantially as an involute of a circle. 16.Vertical-axis mower and conditioner apparatus according to claim 1wherein said wall portion curves from said inner end to said outer endsubstantially helically.